05 July 2009

Review: Lazy Bones Barbecue

Vegan Barbecue in Spokane? Oh, yes! I've been hearing a lot about Lazy Bones the past few months. At first I just ignored the place, but then a friend told me they have vegan offerings. In addition to the usual fare, they serve Small Planet tofu. They cook all vegetarian items on a separate grill, so you needn't worry about your bean curd hangin' out in pork juices (gross!). The veg*n menu also offers a nice variety of vegan sides, like mac-n-cheese.

After much anticipation, we finally made a visit to the Upper South Hill restaurant today. The atmosphere is very casual, but inviting, with counter service. My son and I both ordered the Tofu Plate; he chose a side of vegan mac-n-cheese and I ordered the sweet potato fries and a bottle of Fat Tire (which according to Barnivore.com, is vegan). The north side of the building is lined with garage doors. Since it was a lovely afternoon, the doors were open and we decided to dine on the patio.

I suspect they cook the tofu to order, as it took a little while for our meals to arrive. But it was worth the wait. The Tofu Plate came with two slabs of tofu (with a dry rub and BBQ sauce slathered on top), a side of vinegar slaw, a slice of grilled bread with olive oil and a choice of side. The tofu was perfectly cooked and seasoned with a slightly sweet and spicy flavor. The slaw had a lot of flavor and was great when combined with the tofu. My sweet potato fries were delicious, but had maybe a touch too much salt. My son loved the vegan mac-n-cheese. I haven't found a recipe yet that he likes, but he loved this stuff. I thought it was pretty good myself, although it is definitely not mac-n-cheese. The sauce was more like an alfredo than the traditional yellow cheese. And with a lot of visible oil, it is not a healthy side dish.

All in all, the meal was wonderful. We'll be going back soon to try more of the menu items. The Lentil Apple Salad, Grilled Veggie Kebab and BBQ Tofu Slab Sandwich especially caught my interest. My only regret is that I didn't have my camera with me. Oh well, next time!

**Update: The in-store menu does not jive with the online version. If you go, you'll want to spend some time getting yourself familiar with the menu before ordering.

2 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Crystal,

I'm so glad to learn of your group!

I just recently moved from California and as far as being a vegan is concerned, I really feel like a fish out of water. I live in a very small town on the north border of Whitman county. The people of course are wonderful, but I feel like I'm in an even less-than-vegan culture than I was before.

I've been a vegetarian for 33 years, a vegan off and on during that time, and have been what I call a "99% vegan" for I guess 5 or 6 years (I'm not actually counting). Here's a link that explains a little about that:

I'm rather on the "outer fringes" as I'm an animal-rights libertarian:

www.pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/libertarians_for_animal_rights

I never was very much of an activist, but especially in the new small town Inow live in, I prefer to keep a very low profile as far as my unconventional beliefs and practices are concerned. I want to maintain friendly relations with my neighbors and not make them feel threatened.

I look forward to reading more about you in your blog.

I read a website I think was connected with your group about restaurants that were vegetarian and/or vegan friendly. I tried to find it again, but my internet skills being what they are, I wasn't able to. Maybe you could give me the link?

When I lived in California, most Chinese restaurants eagerly declared they had a vegetarian menu in their Yellow Pages ad, and on their actual menues. Likewise, restaurants of many other cuisines. But there's nary a mention in the Yellow Pages ads here, and I was recently impatiently rebuffed when I politely inquired at one Asian restaurant whether they had a vegetarian selection. It looks like I'm not in Kansas anymore!

Any vegan ZINESTERS out there? Here's one more link and I'll let you go:

www.wemakezines.ning.com/Profile/JamesNDawson

Thanks again for doing what you're doing. It's a real boon to all us lonely vegans out here Eastern Washington!